Brunswick gave Statesboro a momentary scare, but the Blue Devils ended the first half on a 12-2 run and never looked back, clinching a berth to the AAAA state tournament with a 68-47 win over BHS Tuesday in the quarterfinals of the Region 3-AAAA playoffs.
The Pirates trailed by 13 after the opening frame, but closed the gap to three on a Darius Slay 3 with 4:53 to go in the half at 20-17.
Brunswick would score just two more points over the next five minutes, handing SHS a trip to the semifinals. After all the adversity — tough losses, injuries and off the court issues — the Blue Devils (13-11, No. 2 Seed North Division) are back in the state tournament.
“I am real proud of them,” said SHS coach Lee Hill. “This team came a long way.”
Statesboro opened the game like a squad unstoppable, as Rashad Lee tapped the opening tip to Mario Jackson who lobbed it to Eric Ferguson. Ferguson finished the alley-oop with a two-handed slam before most of the fans had found a seat.
The Devils built a 10-0 lead while Brunswick (3-18, No. 3 Seed South Division) was missing its first seven shots, and Ferguson was relatively quiet the rest of the way despite leading SHS with 17 points. Nine different Devils scored and the Devils led by as many as 26.
“I told them, I said, ‘It’s a new season. Forget about what happened in the regular season — it’s time now to play’”, said Hill. “They stepped up and I’m very proud of them.”
Theo Rich added 14 points for Statesboro. The sophomore forward has been out with an ankle injury for weeks. He pulled down four rebounds and gave SHS a huge lift down low.
“It felt pretty good,” said Rich of his return to the starting lineup. “I had to get back out here. Without me I feel like there isn’t much on the bench because we just have little guards. I had to step up for the team.”
The Blue Devils shot 65 percent in the first half and were 6-of-8 from the free throw line. Their 1-2-2 press trap forced BHS into 10 first half turnovers and 30.7 percent shooting from the field.
“They came out with some size,” said Hill. “I felt like if we could trap the guards and make the bigs handle the ball, we’d be able to get them in some trouble.”
Brunswick’s Kahlil Baker had 13 of his 17 points in the second half, but the Pirates were well out of contention by then. Harold Small added 10 for BHS. Mario Jackson had 13 for Statesboro.
“(The younger guys) really came out here and stepped up,” said Ferguson. “We knew it was going to be an easy game. but we still had to come out here and play hard.”
The Devils were 17-of-23 from the line while BHS went 7-of-14.
The Blue Devils will be back in action on Friday at Glynn Academy in the seminfinals against either Ware County or Greenbrier. The time is yet to be determined.
Gamecocks eliminated in OT thriller
Screven County was emiminated form state playoff contention Tuesday as No. 5 seed Westside grabbed a 69-68 overtime win against the No. 4 Gamecocks to advance to the next round of the Region 3-AA boys basketball tournament in Jefferson County.
Westside will take on No. 1 seed Josey on Friday at 8:30 p.m. in JCHS’s gym.
Chad Bishop can be reached at (912) 489-9408.
The Pirates trailed by 13 after the opening frame, but closed the gap to three on a Darius Slay 3 with 4:53 to go in the half at 20-17.
Brunswick would score just two more points over the next five minutes, handing SHS a trip to the semifinals. After all the adversity — tough losses, injuries and off the court issues — the Blue Devils (13-11, No. 2 Seed North Division) are back in the state tournament.
“I am real proud of them,” said SHS coach Lee Hill. “This team came a long way.”
Statesboro opened the game like a squad unstoppable, as Rashad Lee tapped the opening tip to Mario Jackson who lobbed it to Eric Ferguson. Ferguson finished the alley-oop with a two-handed slam before most of the fans had found a seat.
The Devils built a 10-0 lead while Brunswick (3-18, No. 3 Seed South Division) was missing its first seven shots, and Ferguson was relatively quiet the rest of the way despite leading SHS with 17 points. Nine different Devils scored and the Devils led by as many as 26.
“I told them, I said, ‘It’s a new season. Forget about what happened in the regular season — it’s time now to play’”, said Hill. “They stepped up and I’m very proud of them.”
Theo Rich added 14 points for Statesboro. The sophomore forward has been out with an ankle injury for weeks. He pulled down four rebounds and gave SHS a huge lift down low.
“It felt pretty good,” said Rich of his return to the starting lineup. “I had to get back out here. Without me I feel like there isn’t much on the bench because we just have little guards. I had to step up for the team.”
The Blue Devils shot 65 percent in the first half and were 6-of-8 from the free throw line. Their 1-2-2 press trap forced BHS into 10 first half turnovers and 30.7 percent shooting from the field.
“They came out with some size,” said Hill. “I felt like if we could trap the guards and make the bigs handle the ball, we’d be able to get them in some trouble.”
Brunswick’s Kahlil Baker had 13 of his 17 points in the second half, but the Pirates were well out of contention by then. Harold Small added 10 for BHS. Mario Jackson had 13 for Statesboro.
“(The younger guys) really came out here and stepped up,” said Ferguson. “We knew it was going to be an easy game. but we still had to come out here and play hard.”
The Devils were 17-of-23 from the line while BHS went 7-of-14.
The Blue Devils will be back in action on Friday at Glynn Academy in the seminfinals against either Ware County or Greenbrier. The time is yet to be determined.
Gamecocks eliminated in OT thriller
Screven County was emiminated form state playoff contention Tuesday as No. 5 seed Westside grabbed a 69-68 overtime win against the No. 4 Gamecocks to advance to the next round of the Region 3-AA boys basketball tournament in Jefferson County.
Westside will take on No. 1 seed Josey on Friday at 8:30 p.m. in JCHS’s gym.
Chad Bishop can be reached at (912) 489-9408.
